Briefing – Paid Family and Medical Leave: Ensuring Economic Security for Workers, Employers and Communities

Date/Time
05/29/2013
10:00 am - 11:00 am

Event Type
No Categories

Import
Google

Hosted by the National Work and Family Coalition

Demographic and labor force changes mean that, at some point, nearly all workers need to take time to deal with a serious personal or family illness, or to care for a new child. Yet only 11 percent of workers in the United States have access to paid family leave through their employers, and fewer than 40 percent have access to personal medical leave through employer-provided temporary disability insurance. Paid family and medical leave programs allow workers to continue to earn a portion of their pay while they take leave to address a serious health condition (including pregnancy); care for a family member with a serious health condition; or care for a newborn, newly adopted child or newly placed foster child.

The state paid leave fund within the U.S. Department of Labor would provide grants to states considering paid leave programs. New survey results show that the public strongly supports paid leave programs, and in California and New Jersey paid family leave insurance has helped tens of thousands of families.

Come learn about this important initiative and the successful paid family leave insurance programs in California and New Jersey which serve as models for other states and, ultimately for a national paid family and leave program.

Speakers

• Moderator: Wendy Chun-Hoon, Family Values @ Work Consortium

• Senator Gayle Goldin of Rhode Island, sponsor of state Temporary Care Insurance bill

• Ruth Milkman, Professor of Sociology, CUNY Graduate Center

• Permelia Toney-Boss, New Jersey worker impacted by need for paid leave

For more information and to RSVP, please contact Wendy Chun-Hoon at wendy@familyvaluesatwork.org or 202-271-3838.

Supporting organizations:
National Partnership for Women & Families, Family Values @ Work Consortium, 9to5, A Better Balance, Center for Law and Social Policy, Family Equality Council, First Focus, Labor Project for Working Families, MomsRising, National Council of Jewish Women, Restaurant Opportunities Center United